Chinese bank deposits exceed loans by $6.5tn as caution prevails

Gap is largest since 1997, with spending sinking under cloudy economic forecasts

20220111N Bank of China

A woman walks past a Bank of China branch in Shanghai.

IORI KAWATE, Nikkei staff writer

BEIJING -- Money in China is stuck in banks, with the gap between deposits and loans hitting the highest on record at the end of last year amid an uncertain economic outlook.

Deposits outpaced loans by 44.51 trillion yuan ($6.57 trillion), the largest gap since 1997, the People's Bank of China reported. Data from before that year is unavailable.

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